Late Pregnancy Emotions

Late Pregnancy Emotions During the Last Month

Take all the emotions you’ve felt over the past eight months, intensify them, and you’ve got an idea of the late pregnancy emotions you can expect during month nine. You may be tired of being big, tired of being tired and very ready to get the pregnancy over with. Your preoccupation with the upcoming birth and change in your lifestyle can mean more emotional ups and downs, but the inevitability of what’s ahead may make it easier for you to cope.

Most expecting moms report they feel:

More Ambivalent

Many women do not want a pregnancy to end. Ambivalence over no longer being pregnant can lead to anxiety about making the transition from pregnancy to parenthood, especially if you are a person who doesn’t handle transitions well. Realize that grieving the loss of your pregnancy is a very real need. Give yourself the time and space to deal with these late pregnancy emotions now – you’ll be too busy once baby comes.

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More Sensitive

Anticipate your late pregnancy emotions being more touchy this month, and bothered by well-meaning but insensitive comments. You may feel more irritable toward your spouse, impatient with your children and provoked by little things that normally wouldn’t faze you. It’s normal to be irritated and overwhelmed by all this advice and to wish people would just leave you alone and let you have (and rear) your baby your way. You may find yourself becoming very protective of your peace. This is nature’s way of protecting you from outside influences that may distract you from the higher-priority event that is soon to come, conserving your energy for what’s ahead. If a bit of advice is headed your way, go ahead and temporarily zone out. Even better, stay away from people who make you nervous.

More Concerned

You sometimes lie awake at night going over everything in your head. In your desire to be super-prepared, you make lists so you don’t have to worry about forgetting anything, but then you worry about what you may have forgotten to put on the list in the first place. (Keep a pad and pencil next to your bed so you can jot it down and relax back to sleep.) Remember, anything you have forgotten will probably turn out not be so important after all.

More Scared

Even if you’ve prepared for this event for the past nine months, it’s normal to have second thoughts. Obviously, there is no turning back, and billions of women before you have gone through labor, including your mother. If this is your first baby, fear of the unknown naturally leads to dread. Let your mind work through these late pregnancy emotions early in the ninth month before your body is asked to do a very strenuous job. The more you trust that your body knows what to do, the more your mind will relax.

August 8, 2013February 13, 2019Dr. Bill Sears

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